Raimunda, her daughter Paula and her sister Sole travel from Madrid to the windy and superstitious village of Alcanfor de las Infantas to visit the grave of their mother and aunt Irene, who died years ago in a fire with her husband. Then they visit Irene's sister Paula, an old senile aunt that raised Raimunda after the death of her parents that insists to tell them that Irene is alive and living with her; later, they go to the house of her neighbor and friend Agustina, who gives a support to Paula. They return to Madrid, and after a hard day of work, Raimunda meets her daughter completely distraught at the bus stop waiting for her. When they arrive home, Paula tells that she killed her unemployed father Paco, who was completely drunk and tried to rape her. While Raimunda is hiding his body, Sole calls her to tell that their beloved aunt Paula had died. On the next morning, Sole travels alone to the funeral...
Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
According to Pedro Almodóvar, there's only one fake element in Raimunda's (Penélope Cruz) body: the bottom. He said that this kind of characters are usually big-bottomed people, and that Cruz is just too stylized.
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Quotes
Sole:
Mom? Irene:
Hum? Sole:
There's something you want me to do, isn't? Irene:
Cut my hair. Sole:
I mean if there's something you couldn't do alive and doesn't let you rest. Irene:
There are always things undone. Or bad done. And my life has been no exception. Look, I don't know if I can fix them, but if I can, it's up to me to do it. Sole:
[after a long silence]
Customers will arrive soon. What are we going to do? Irene:
We attend to them. I'll help you. Sole:
But I can't introduce you as my mother. They all know I'm an orphan. Irene:
Then I'll pretend to be foreign.
[...]
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